To Dallas: June - A Month in the Life of a Deacon
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Philip Mayer
Jul 6, 2008, 8:40:31 PM7/6/08
to A Month in the Life of a Deacon
Dallas, Texas: Our Next Adventure Awaits
Earlier this year I remember waking one morning and feeling fear
pressing upon me: I would be graduating from seminary soon and had no
place to go, a wife to care for and student loans soon coming due. The
heaviness upon me seemed to have grown like the giant icicles that
hung outside the bedroom window. As Melissa lay sleeping beside me I
prayed silently, “Dear Lord Jesus, I cannot bear this on my own. You
have to take this from me.” And he did. I fell back asleep.
Graduation came and went and we still didn’t know where we were to go.
Within a few days of leaving the school I received an offer to work as
an assistant at a parish in Chicago—a nice position that came with a
four bedroom house and a talented rector to learn under. But Melissa
and I felt that this wasn’t where God was calling us and so I
nervously turned it down.
A few days later I was ordained as a deacon in Florida and then flew
to Houston to interview for an assistant position with a very likeable
man and a great listener. Next I flew to a small town north of Dallas
to look into a position as deacon-in-charge of a mission congregation
of about sixty people. Although this would be a risk for a young guy
like me, my heart leapt when I spoke with them—was God directing me
toward Dallas?
Decision time came when the rector from Houston called about flying
Melissa and me back for a second interview. Yet, I hadn’t heard from
the church near Dallas—did our interview there go as well as I had
thought? Were they going to extend a call? Were they hearing the same
thing from God that I was hearing? I didn’t know, but I had to be
honest with the rector from Houston who was now on the phone. “I’m
beginning to lean strongly toward a church near Dallas,” I told him.
“Okay,” he said, “I’ll keep looking.”
That same afternoon I received a call from the mission church near
Dallas. They wanted me to come and be their pastor. And so we’re off.
In less than two weeks time we head to Texas to learn and grow with
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Our Next adventure awaits.
Earlier this year I remember waking one morning and feeling fear
pressing upon me: I would be graduating from seminary soon and had no
place to go, a wife to care for and student loans soon coming due. The
heaviness upon me seemed to have grown like the giant icicles that
hung outside the bedroom window. As Melissa lay sleeping beside me I
prayed silently, “Dear Lord Jesus, I cannot bear this on my own. You
have to take this from me.” And he did. I fell back asleep.
Graduation came and went and we still didn’t know where we were to go.
Within a few days of leaving the school I received an offer to work as
an assistant at a parish in Chicago—a nice position that came with a
four bedroom house and a talented rector to learn under. But Melissa
and I felt that this wasn’t where God was calling us and so I
nervously turned it down.
A few days later I was ordained as a deacon in Florida and then flew
to Houston to interview for an assistant position with a very likeable
man and a great listener. Next I flew to a small town north of Dallas
to look into a position as deacon-in-charge of a mission congregation
of about sixty people. Although this would be a risk for a young guy
like me, my heart leapt when I spoke with them—was God directing me
toward Dallas?
Decision time came when the rector from Houston called about flying
Melissa and me back for a second interview. Yet, I hadn’t heard from
the church near Dallas—did our interview there go as well as I had
thought? Were they going to extend a call? Were they hearing the same
thing from God that I was hearing? I didn’t know, but I had to be
honest with the rector from Houston who was now on the phone. “I’m
beginning to lean strongly toward a church near Dallas,” I told him.
“Okay,” he said, “I’ll keep looking.”
That same afternoon I received a call from the mission church near
Dallas. They wanted me to come and be their pastor. And so we’re off.
In less than two weeks time we head to Texas to learn and grow with
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Our Next adventure awaits.
Philip Mayer
Jul 6, 2008, 8:44:11 PM7/6/08
to A Month in the Life of a Deacon
phil....@gmail.com; 407-409-8913 voicemail; philipmayer.blogspot.com
5874 Lake Lizzie Dr., St. Cloud, FL 34771
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